Some of you may know our friend Steve Lynch. Some of you may not. But either way, please take a moment to read his story:

Steve Lynch is as 23 year old native of Bainbridge, Ohio and graduate of Ohio State University. He was a very active member of Newfangled Productions in our first three years - in fact, he was there right at the beginning singing and playing at our very first event - The First Starving Artists’ Ball.

A year ago Steve left his home, his friends and his family to join the Peace Corps. He is currently stationed in Turkmenistan, a former soviet country in central Asia. He has dedicated two years of his life to service and hardship.

Many of us talk about working for peace from the comfort of our homes, but Steve has made a great sacrifice - leaving everything he has ever known to travel to a country where the people are impoverished, where electricity and hot water are considered luxuries and where the “president for life” squanders what little his people have on self-glorification and statues in his honor.

There must be many days when Steve feels alone and forgotten, but we have not forgotten him. He is far from home but he is never far from our hearts. And with that in mind, please help us to create a very special gift for Steve.

Our intention is to create a book of letters from as many people as we can to send to Steve for Christmas. We hope to collect letters from those of you who know Steve and from those of you who do not, but are still touched by his story. If you are his friend, now is the time to remind him, to tell him how much you miss him and how proud you are of him. If you’ve never met him, now is the chance to introduce yourself, to thank him for proving that in a world that sometimes seems full of selfishness and violence that there are people like him working for peace and humility.

Your letter can be as short or as long as you would like - a couple of sentences or a full-length letter. It is up to you. But what’s important is that you say something - that we can show in a small way that no matter how far away Steve is he is never alone.

Also, please provide us with a way to contact you, whether through email, phone or a mailing address (all three would be preferable). Once the letters are collected and the book is produced we would love to make copies available for all of you - so we can all share in the celebration of this remarkable person.

Finally, think of this book as a “surprise party.” It is so much more fun if Steve doesn’t know about this until he receives the book. We encourage you to make copies of this letter, to send it to your friends, family and coworkers - to post it on mailing lists and on coffee shop bulletin boards, but if you post it on the internet, try not to post it someplace where Steve is likely to see it. (Steve has limited internet access through the Peace Corps to communicate with home and to post letters.)

If you have any questions, comments or want to help in any additional way please feel free to email us at newfangled02@yahoo.com or call (330)620-9686.

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